


black and white

by VagabondDawn



Category: Dreaming of Sunshine - Silver Queen
Genre: Alternate Universe - Gardens, Dimensional Travel, Gen, Silver Queen's Dreaming of Sunshine Universe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-08
Updated: 2019-05-08
Packaged: 2020-02-28 08:16:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,494
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18752524
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VagabondDawn/pseuds/VagabondDawn
Summary: Sakumo Hatake is in disgrace, isolated from his village and job — until Jiraiya shows up with a mysterious kunoichi trying to join Konoha.





	black and white

**Author's Note:**

  * For [witchbreaker](https://archiveofourown.org/users/witchbreaker/gifts).



> Request by witchbreaker
> 
> Hatake Sakumo & Jiraiya  
> Hatake Sakumo & Anyone

Sakumo listlessly contemplates the beams of light that intrude into the kitchen through the slatted shutters of the window. The cup of tea in his hands has long since gone cold, but it was such an effort to make it in the first place — making another one seems pointless. 

Then, like a war drum on a foggy night, a knocking on the front door cuts through the room. 

He lifts his head, wearily, and regards it. Thinks about the long sequence of actions that would be required — first to release the cup, to rise from his chair, cross the kitchen, enter the hallway and into the genkan, step down the genkan step and open the front door. Then… 

Converse with whoever might be there, whatever they might want. 

_No one_ visits Sakumo these days. Not unless they have to. What might it be? A mission? Months ago, that might have been expected but these days… even the missions office wants nothing to do with him. They’d rather send _Orochimaru_ than Sakumo; thinking the fact that they both own swords and have summons makes them _interchangeable._

“I know you’re in there, Sakumo!” Jiraiya shouts through the closed door, as loud as ever. “If you don’t open up, I’m coming in anyway!” 

The front wall of the house shudders, and Sakumo can picture the annoyed thump that accompanies the declaration. 

It solves his dilemma, though, and he slumps back down. No need to expend the effort of getting up to open the door if Jiraiya is just going to come in anyway. 

Jiraiya makes good on his threat about thirty seconds later, forcing the front door open with a burst of chakra and casually destroying the traps that Kakashi had carefully set the last time — how long ago? — he’d left the house. 

Jiraiya meanders inside, presence loud and filling the empty house, like he has every right to be there and not like he just technically broke in. “Where’s the brat?” 

Where _is_ Kakashi? 

“Training,” Sakumo guesses. “Probably with your student.” 

Jiraiya makes a ‘hmph’ing noise, but he’ll probably go and check on them. Good. Sakumo is only assuming that’s where Kakashi is, that he’s fine, that someone else is doing a better job of looking after him than Sakumo ever could. It’ll be nice to know if it’s true. 

“Well, probably best he’s not here,” Jiraiya allows, and finally makes his way into the kitchen. 

There’s a teenage kunoichi with him, shadowing him a half pace back. Her eyes flicker coolly over the room, over Sakumo, and for an instant he feels ashamed of the condition of the house, of himself. 

And then even that feeling falls away into indifference. 

“I need you to watch her,” Jiraiya says, gesturing at his companion who he fails to introduce in any way whatsoever. 

A retort about her being more than old enough to watch herself hangs on the tip of his tongue, but Sakumo — for all his disgrace — is still a shinobi. She walks like a ninja, assesses like a ninja, but there isn’t a hint of a Konoha emblem anywhere on her. 

Jiraiya is so bold and obvious that people — even those that know him — forget that he’s heavily involved in Konoha’s Intelligence Division. This wouldn’t be the first unmarked stranger that has shown up with him. 

“Surely there are better options…” Sakumo says. _Anyone_ is a better option. Why has Jiraiya even come _here_? 

“Tsunade is in surgery,” Jiraiya says, “and god knows where Orochimaru is.” 

“You aren’t leaving me with Orochimaru,” the kunoichi says, like this is a fact and not even Jiraiya is powerful enough to change her mind. 

“I’ll leave you where ever I want, brat,” Jiraiya says, but with the rough fondness that means she’s probably not an enemy, even if apparently he only considers his team as worthy supervisors. “You’re a pain in my ass.” He turns back to Sakumo. “I gotta talk to Sensei about this whole shitshow so just… watch her.” 

It doesn’t seem like Jiraiya will be swayed, and hopefully the faster he manages to talk to the Hokage the faster Sakumo will be alone again, so Sakumo nods. 

“Great,” Jiraiya says and claps a hand down on the kunoichi’s shoulder. “Stay out of trouble. Don’t— well. Just _don’t._ ” 

With those terrifying words, he departs. 

“Well, yikes,” the kunoichi says, which seems to be an accurate summation of events. 

* * *

Shikako hesitates for a moment, remaining where Jiraiya had left her. 

This is _Kakashi-sensei’s dad_. 

He really doesn’t look like he was anticipating houseguests, so that’s awkward. She’s been a little too busy to catch up on the specifics of the timeline and where in history they are but… judging from the general atmosphere in the house she’s going to put a solid guess on ‘after the failed mission’. 

_Yikes_ doesn’t even cover it. 

“So, uh,” she says when he doesn’t make any further moves. “You got any food in here, Hatake-san? Jiraiya-sama didn’t exactly stop for lunch.” 

He’d been _very_ eager to get back to Konoha and, in his words, make her someone else’s problem. She suspects it was more so that he could gather some corroborating evidence on what she told him — particularly about Danzo. 

Sakumo blinks and rubs a hand over his eyes. “Oh,” he says, unsurely. “Maybe?” 

Double yikes. 

Shikako takes that as an offer to go through the kitchen cupboards, sidling past him with a brief ‘excuse me’. There is actually plenty of food — ninja staples of canned, dried and non-perishables. She gets to making miso soup and rice and plunks his servings down on the table in front of him. 

“Itadakimasu,” she says. “Don’t take this the wrong way — I’m not a caretaker or anything — but you don’t seem to be doing so hot. You should probably eat that.” 

Definitely overstepping _a lot_ but also, did she say yikes already? Because yikes. 

She knows how his story ends and it’s kinda awful. Someone should do something about that, and right now it seems like that someone might have to be her. Not the first time she’s had this revelation, but usually she knows people _a little_ before busting all into their private lives. 

Sakumo picks at the food but actually ends up eating most of it, and when they’re done Shikako does the dishes — because she’s a nice person and a good houseguest — and finds opens the door to the backyard. 

For a second, she thinks he’s actually going to be such a lax prison guard that he’ll let her outside on her own, but he rises and follows her out. 

It’s a big backyard, much more of a training field. There are a series of training posts with shuriken damage at waist height — or at target height for a five year old — and a bamboo pipe water feature that empties into a large stone bowl that might, perhaps, be for dogs to drink out of. Even if that wasn’t it’s intended purpose, she suspects that’s probably how it ends up being used anyway. The trees around the boundary show signs of knife and wire damage, but not much, and not a lot of jutsu damage either, and none of it recent. 

Low impact training field, then. You wouldn’t want to do anything too dangerous around your house. 

Sakumo takes a seat on the veranda, and since she’s lured him outside into the fresh air and sunshine, Shikako figures she might as well stretch and get a bit of exercise in. She’s been a bit busy, recently, and while this camping trip from hell has certainly kept her on her toes… that’s no reason to get sloppy. 

Jiraiya doesn’t return until much later, when the sun has gone down. Shikako is disappointed to note that tiny Kakashi-sensei has not come home at all, though Sakumo doesn’t seem surprised or worried. 

“You’ve got _provisional_ acceptance,” Jiraiya says, throwing her a headband. “I still need to confirm some things so… don’t do anything.” 

“Okay, okay,” Shikako says, tying the headband around her bicep. “As long as you don’t take forever.” 

“Most people would be grateful,” Jiraiya complains. “You know how hard it was to get even provisional acceptance? You’re still going to need someone to watch you…” he trails off and looks at Sakumo, clearly hinting at what he thinks the ideal solution to this situation is. 

It’s true that there are not many high rank ninja who aren’t currently very, very busy — and if he tries to leave her with Orochimaru for real she’s going to revolt. 

“That’s… not a good idea,” Sakumo says. “Especially not if you want her to integrate into Konoha.” 

“It’s a _great idea_ ,” Shikako says, seized by the opportunity that has presented itself. “Hatake-san and I get on great.” She smiles angelically. “I’d love to stay here.” 

Sure, she might not be able to _help_ him very much. But she can sure as hell stop him from dying. 


End file.
